Stassi Schroeder is returning to the Vanderpump Rules franchise – four years after she was fired for racist actions towards co-star Faith Stowers.
Schroeder, 36, has been cast in season two of Vanderpump Villa alongside her former Sur boss, Lisa Vanderpump.
Lisa, 63, made the shock announcement in an Instagram video on Friday, holding up a glass of champagne and saying: ‘Well hello there, I want to welcome you back to Vanderpump Villa season 2. Now, I am sitting here and I’m thinking, “What should I put on the menu?’ Any ideas?”
The camera then showed Stassi sat at the table as she responded: ‘Lisa, obviously goat cheese balls’ – referring to Sur’s popular dish.
Vanderpump responded: ‘Excellent idea, cheers! Welcome back, darling!’
The video was captioned: ‘Vanderpump Villa is returning for Season 2… with a new addition! #WelcomeBackDarling #VanderpumpVilla.’
Stassi has also signed a deal with Hulu to develop a comedic half-hour docuseries called Stassi Says – per Variety.
In June 2020 Schroeder and Kristen Doute were fired from the show for racial profiling a co-star.
The two women were fired by Bravo on June 9, a week after Stowers revealed how the pair had racially profiled her, calling the cops in 2018 to allege they believed Faith was a suspected criminal.
The pair’s crisis PR manager Steve Honig told DailyMail.com at the time: ‘Stassi and Kristen acknowledged what they did was wrong, have apologized and been punished.’
He continued: ‘Without casting aside their actions or the impact of those actions, they want to move forward as part of the solution in ways that are productive, meaningful and sincere.’
The statement adds: ‘Both of them recognize actions speak louder than words and that is what will guide them as they move forward.’
Stassi had spoken about the incident herself during a 2018 interview on a podcast titled the ‘B***h Bible’ where she confirmed that she and Kristen had contacted authorities because they saw a resemblance between Faith and a suspected criminal in a news story.
‘We are like, we just solved a f***ing crime,’ Stassi said that in the episode, which has since been deleted but was reported by People magazine. ‘We start calling the police. The police don’t give a f****’ she added in the interview.
The same year, Kristen went even further, by posting a comparison picture on social media, tweeting: ‘hey tweeties, doesn’t this ex #pumprules thief look familiar?’
The pair – who had been posting in support of Black Lives Matter – both apologized, with Stassi saying ‘I did not recognize then the serious ramifications that could have transpired because of my actions.’
However, Kristen caused further outcry when she apologized to Faith but claimed her actions ‘were not racially driven.’
She said: ‘I am now completely aware of how my privilege blinded me from the reality of law enforcement’s treatment of the black community, and how dangerous my actions could have been for her.’
In April 2024 it emerged Stowers was suing Bravo for ‘racism, sexual harassment and physical assault’.
According to court documents the reality TV personality, 35, is accusing the network of discrimination, retaliation and enabling an unsafe work environment on set.
In her filing, obtained by PEOPLE, Faith also named three of her former castmates — Lala Kent, 33, Schroeder and Doute, 41 — for harassment.
In one instance, she alleged Kent held a knife up to her neck and threatened to ‘cut a b***h’ when they were filming together at Lisa Vanderpump’s SUR restaurant in an unaired scene from season four — when she had just joined the cast.
Stowers’ suit also names Vanderpump as she claimed the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum threatened to have her fired from her namesake show if she refused to film with her alleged assailant.
Stowers also named the executive producer, claiming they discouraged her from filing a police report regarding the hostile encounter with Kent.
DailyMail.com reached out to reps for Bravo as well as Kent, Schroeder and Doute for comment at the time.
In her lawsuit, the former castmate claimed Schroeder and Doute had accused her of going AWOL from the United States Army and allegedly said she was a ‘serial criminal’ who drugged and robbed men in Los Angeles.
She claimed Schroeder and Doute also filed a ‘false’ police report in 2018 listing Stowers as the assailant when ‘the only similarities between Stowers and the assailant were their gender and skin color.’
Stowers alleged that she was regularly taunted with racially insensitive remarks and mocked for having ‘nappy hair.’
She said her castmates’ behavior was a ‘brazen and defamatory campaign’ of ‘racial harassment’ with the intention to ‘harm’ her and her credibility, and when she spoke up, she was allegedly ‘warned’ to ‘keep quiet and play nice.’
Following the scandal and subsequent firing of her former co-stars, she said she was then demoted to an unpaid ‘volunteer’ for the show’s fifth season.
Stassi has bounced back from the controversy with the release of second New York Times bestseller Next Level Basic and a hit podcast, Stassi.
She said in her second book: ‘I just understood entirely and completely how wrong I was.
‘I couldn’t even believe I had questioned Black Lives Matter. The realization that I was one of those freaking Karens who say ‘What about all lives matter?’ was a seriously tough pill to swallow.’